FOX Renews ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ for Two More Seasons

If you fancy a side of @$%# with your painstakingly prepared #!&@%, then FOX ‘s recent announcement regarding Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen should seriously whet your appetite. The foul-mouthed British chef will bring his profanity-laced outbursts back to FOX for the ninth and tenth seasons of the highly rated reality program.

It seems Ramsay has a knack for bringing as many people around a television screen as he does a dinner table. Hell’s Kitchen has a workman like quality – performing well, no matter where FOX shuffles it into its lineup. This fact is well known by executive producer Arthur Smith.

“The thing about Hell’s Kitchen is you can put it anywhere — spring, summer, fall, opposite Modern Family and Survivor. It’s very satisfying to see what people think of a food show is that broad-based.”

Hell’s Kitchen routinely performs well in the 18-49 demographic, often besting its ratings from the year prior. The most recent season managed to snag over 6 million viewers. The showhas performed so well in fact, it has generated two other chef-centric programs for FOX: Master Chef and Kitchen Nightmares – both based on their Ramsay led UK predecessors.

To compliment the upcoming ninth season, the Hell’s Kitchen restaurant will be getting a bit of a facelift. According to Smith, one of the more noticeable additions will be a balcony seating a guest table over the pass (the place where food is checked and finalized before being served).

“We always feel like we have to continue to outdo ourselves. We really feel this is our space and we owe it to viewers to continue to reach.”

Gordon Ramsay mentoring a pupil on 'Hell's Kitchen'

Those who have watched Ramsay on his various programs, know that for all the yelling, cursing and dumping of poorly prepared risotto, he is a passionate professional who, at one point, was juggling six simultaneously airing television programs and 25 restaurants. That kind of success (i.e. tremendous work ethic) may not excuse the behavior for those who don’t appreciate his special brand of mentoring, but it should help put his tirades into better perspective.

At any rate, when it comes to programming centered on the competitive aspirations of those I wouldn’t entrust to hose down a kennel, let alone cook my food, Hell’s Kitchen manages to capture the true spirit of reality television: watching people fail, but with the added bonus of being berated by a man whose acid tongue was the basis for the xenomorph’s blood in Alien… probably.

As far as the next two seasons go, I only have one request: will everyone please stop %$#@-ing up the Beef Wellington?

Look for season nine of Hell’s Kitchen to air sometime late summer 2011.